Amid all of that, the Atlantic Coast Conference remains the premier basketball league in Division I. The Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences can jockey for position, but no other conference has been more dominant. The ACC has produced four national title winners since 2010, including Louisville’s now-vacated 2013 title. It placed nine teams in the 2017 tournament, including eventual national champion North Carolina.

But ACC basketball is more than just an elite private college in Durham, N.C. and the state school down the road in Chapel Hill. Teams like Miami, Virginia, and Virginia Tech will chase Duke and the Tar Heels for the league title and bids to the NCAA Tournament. The latter should not be much of a challenge. According to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s last prediction of 2017, 10 of the conference’s 15 schools will make the 68-team bracket.

ACC basketball fans travel well and breweries are plentiful in the 15 cities hosting member schools. With the exception of one city, you are just a short Lyft or Uber ride away from great beer.

A 15-minute walk separates Proof Brewing from the Seminoles’ home court.”

There is no good explanation why the nearest brewery to Clemson is 18 miles away in Anderson. Carolina Bauernhaus is a farmhouse brewery specializing in wild and sour ales, and award winners at that. Its Source Series Opuntia – a rye saison soured with a lactobacillus strain from opuntia fruit and aged for six months in Cabernet barrels on opuntia – won gold in the experimental beer category at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival.

Dull the noise from the Cameron Crazies at Fullsteam Brewery on the other side of the Durham Freeway from campus. Opened in 2010, owner Sean Willson and brewmaster Brian Mandeville focus on ingredients sourced in the Carolinas. Its year-round Farm Edge series features ingredients grown and foraged nearby. Every description on its website includes the farms where hops, yeast, barley and other components were grown.

A 15-minute walk separates Proof Brewing from the Seminoles’ home court. Proof was the city’s first craft brewery, opening in 2012 on a strip of land that separates Florida State and Florida A&M Universities. The spacious tasting room houses its production brewery, where it cans its most popular beers: Mango Wit and Eightfive-0 IPA.

Our preference is Monday Night Brewing, but wonky hours at its West Midtown spot two miles from campus take it out of the running. Instead, head north on I-85 from McCamish Pavilion and visit Atlanta stalwart Sweetwater Brewing Company. The alehouse is known nationally for its IPA and 420 Extra Pale Ale, but we are partial to its session beer Hop Hash IPA.

The Cardinals play at the off-campus KFC Yum! Center, a 10-minute walk from Louisville’s best known brewery. Against The Grain, known for its colorfulbeernamesandcans, has a brewpub and kitchen just down the street. Twenty beers are on tap at any time, as are a variety of meats fresh from the smoker.

Robert Poitras attended the University of North Carolina, so he naturally opened Carolina Brewery adjacent to campus. He also studied abroad in college, and those influences are evident in his English-style IPA, oatmeal porter, and the Sky Blue Golden Ale, a Kölsch. The latter is available in cans throughout the Carolinas and Tennessee.

Alex IsraelOn February third, the Wolfpack welcome Notre Dame to town. You'll know where to get beers.

A 15-minute drive around William B. Umstead State Park takes you from PNC Arena to Lonerider Brewing Company, where Josie and Betty run the join. Sweet Josie is an aromatic, rich brown ale that took gold at the GABF in 2010, while Shotgun Betty is GABF bronze-award winning hefeweizen (2016).

Three miles of Edison Street connect campus with nearby Mishawaka, Ind. and Evil Czech Brewery, owned by husband-and-wife team George and Tammy Pesek. The couple opened the brewery in 2014, slowly adding a tap room, distillery, and restaurant. We suggest the Bigsby White Stout, a blonde milk stout brewed with local coffee and cacao nibs.

East End Brewing Company has two locations within a 15-minute drive of the Oakland Zoo. The brewery and tap room near Bakery Square is just over three miles away, while the riverside tap room is a shade under. If barleywines are your thing, East End is your place. It’s bottle-conditioned Gratitude earns a 4.27 rating on Beer Advocate. A barrel-aged version, released in time for March Madness, scores a 4.19.

Graham is sourcing hops from Tech’s farm, adding a little extra Hokie to their beers.”

Syracuse’s best beer is poured in a nondescript industrial building south of campus. Willow Rock Brewing Company, less than 10 minutes from Carrier Dome parking lots, celebrates Syracuse in its beers like Jim, a smooth, sweet brown ale named for Hall of Famer and SU alumnus Jim Brown, and Orange 44, a 4.4% alcohol by volume ale with four types of malts and four types of hops named for the school’s famed uniform number. The brewery has odd hours, but opens early and closes late on game days.

Evan Graham cut his teeth at Morgantown Brewing Company and Parkway Brewing in Salem, Va. The Virginia Tech graduate launched Right Mind Brewing inside of Lefty’s Main Street Grille, a restaurant less than two miles from campus. Graham is sourcing hops from Tech’s farm, adding a little extra Hokie to beers like Scroggins Yard, a wet-hopped pale ale.

Foothills Brewing releases Sexual Chocolate, an imperial stout with flavors of molasses, chocolate, and toffee, in early February, just as conference play warms up. Husband and wife Jamie and Sarah Bartholomaus have taken Foothills from a local brewery to a regional brand that makes 40,000 barrels annually. The brewpub is an easy 2.5-mile drive from campus to downtown.